Nevertheless, We Persisted by Amy Klobuchar

Author:Amy Klobuchar
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2018-09-03T16:00:00+00:00

When I was seven years old, my dad took my brother and me to a boxing gym in Edgewater, New Jersey. It was boring to just sit and watch my dad train. He was having all the fun! So I decided I wanted to hit the bag, just like my dad. I begged him to let me put on a pair of gloves until he agreed. I started punching the bag like crazy right away. By the time I went to bed that night, I knew what I had a passion for: boxing!

As the years passed, I boxed more and more, but my classmates constantly told me that boxing is for boys only. This challenge motivated me more! Just like two-time Olympic gold medalist Claressa Shields said, if you ask a little boy who his five favorite boxers are, he will name five guys. My list isn’t five guys, because it includes Claressa. And like Claressa, I want to break that boundary! God willing, I will be on a boy’s top five list one day.

It’s hard for female boxers to get on those lists, because we don’t get the same attention the male boxers do. But that doesn’t stop us. If anything, it means that girls and women are working harder than boys and men, because we don’t have as many people supporting us. We have to bridge that distance on our own. One of my challenges is even finding girls to fight or spar with who are the right weight, age, and experience. Most girls have to fight that same girl over and over again. Fighting the same girl will help us both improve because we are still training and sharpening our boxing techniques, but being able to fight more girls with different boxing styles would better prepare me. You never know who you will step in the ring with, and you need to be ready for anything. For this reason, when I do spar, it’s mostly with boys, but some boys are too embarrassed to spar with a girl. Also, their parents don’t want to see their sons getting beaten up by a girl!

When I first started, most boys had the advantage, and some still do. But there was a time when a boy would come into the ring with a look on his face like I was easy work. I always showed him differently. Some parents even told their sons to go easy on me. I love when they underestimate me, though. It makes me want to go harder!

Every day in the gym is a challenge, from the drills to the push-ups, sit-ups, running, and pull-ups. But without all the hard work, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I push myself a little more every day. I want to be great at anything I do! I know it will take a lot to get to where I want to be, and it took a lot to get to where I am now. Perseverance, hard work, and dedication got me here.

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